understand the assignment

Verb

understand the assignment (third-person singular simple present understands the assignment, present participle understanding the assignment, simple past and past participle understood the assignment)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To excel at something; to demonstrate one's skill or talent.
   • If you’re lucky enough to have a dishwasher in your shared kitchen, then a) we’re jealous and b) it’s definitely worth picking a processor that you don’t have to wash up. This understood the assignment, and all its attachments fit in the bowl, meaning it won’t take up too much of your allotted...2021 September 15, Hannah Mendelsohn, “Make GBBO-level cakes with these 5 best food processors under £100”, in Cosmopolitan
   • Lil Nas X led the charge of stars who “understood the assignment,” to use a phrase that should probably be retired in 2022. In terms of creating cultural moments, impeccably reading the room on Twitter and seeming to actually have fun with his newfound mega-stardom, no one else came close.2021 December 18, Danya Issawi, Shane O'Neill, “The Year in Stars”, in The New York Times
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see understand, assignment.